Class Acts: School library: ‘Wow, it’s like TV in my head’
School library: ‘Wow, it’s like TV in my head’
Look out! If you walk into the library at Susan B. Anthony Elementary School, you might find yourself unwittingly wading through a lush jungle or stepping aboard a pirate ship, sweeping you into another world—a magical world full of literary connections.
“Sometimes the theme comes from literature, sometimes from movies that are based on literature,” explains Suzanne Lundberg, the school’s librarian and the mastermind behind the program, which began in 2003. The result? Kids are not only more excited about reading, they’re understanding more of what they read; test results over one recent 12-month period in reading comprehension under the Accelerated Reader assessment program showed substantial point increases at all grade levels, including a jump of 99 points for second-graders and 97 points for third-graders.
This makes the community happy, if happiness can be measured in front-page stories about the program in local papers, or by contributions of money and materials that helped the PTA boost the number of library books by 15 percent, to more than 16,000. The Corona-Norco Unified School District is happy too, if the Golden Bell Award that the program received from CSBA in 2007 is any indication. And teachers are happy, especially about the connections between the library installations and the curricula they cover in the classroom.
But best of all, says Lundberg, the kids are happy.
“They love being here in the library, and that’s huge,” she says. “If I can get them to put down a remote control and pick up a book instead, that’s huge.”
The best way to do that, Lundberg finds, is to use an entertainment-oriented theme—this year it’s the latest “Indiana Jones” movie—to lure kids in.
“We’ve done ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ we’ve done ‘Harry Potter,’ we’ve done ‘Polar Express,’” says Lundberg, who uses visual props galore to transform the library into a land of wonder. From there she connects the dots between fantasy and reality—linking, for example, “Indiana Jones” with the study of ancient civilizations (part of the sixth-grade curriculum) or with rain-forest animals (part of the second-grade curriculum), an effort that also speaks directly to the state’s language arts standards.
A steady supply of interactive activities, daily readings and weekly lessons is an important part of the program: “Harry Potter,” for instance, was used to launch a lesson on what an editor does, what a publisher does, and how the British version of the book series differs from the American.
Finding clever ways of enticing kids to read is a key to the program’s success. This year, the students were told that if each of them read a book, it would help Indiana Jones in his quest for the golden Temple of Akator. “And then this Mayan temple appeared in the library, 12 feet tall,” says Lundberg.
But “it’s not just decorating,” she adds. “We’re here to support the classroom by getting kids excited about reading.” As Lundberg points out, improved reading skills not only translate into better reading scores, but into better scores in every subject.
Expanding the program—and doing so in a way that meets all students’ needs—is a priority. When the school’s English learner population grew, for example, a new section of Spanish-language books and an interactive listening center were added. And when the third- and fourth-grade boys showed an interest in reading mysteries, the corresponding section of the library was expanded.
Of course, dragon dust alone isn’t enough to keep such a program alive; stable funding is needed. On that score, Susan B. Anthony’s library program finds consistent help through California Department of Education funds such as the School Improvement Program. Community members, teachers, parents and students also take part in local fundraising efforts.
Teachers, in fact, have been some of the library program’s biggest cheerleaders, noting on surveys about its effectiveness that the “innovative” approach “engages and excites” students who say they “can’t wait to read.” Parents have sung its praises on surveys, too—mostly because their kids are loving the program. “It’s nice to hear from the parents that their kids are enjoying the program—that it’s working,” Lundberg says.
When a gaggle of kids stands outside the library at the beginning of each school day, eagerly waiting for the door to open, it’s a sure sign that something’s working.
Why does Lundberg think it’s working so well?
She pauses; then shares a story.
“There’s one little boy—he’s a fifth-grader—who said when he walked into the library, ‘Wow, it’s like TV in my head.’ I think the program is successful because we’re taking something educational, something scholastic, and making it fun—fun to read. That’s the whole idea.”
—Cathy Cassinos-Carr